小燕下班后，跟Larry到一家愛爾蘭酒吧去喝酒。今天我們要學(xué)兩個常用語，一個是tough call, 一個是tone it down.

　　（Sound of a bar and Irish music in the background）

　　LL: Wow, Xiaoyan, you must be exhausted. Did you work a full shift?

　　XY: 我今天連著當(dāng)了兩班，double Shift, 快累癱了。好在這是紐約，能賺不少小費(fèi)。

　　LL: So let's eat and drink, shall we? Here's the menu.

　　XY: 好啊，我餓極了。你覺得點(diǎn)點(diǎn)兒什么好？

　　LL: It's a tough call, Xiaoyan. There are a lot of great choices, so it's difficult to say that one in particular is the best.

　　XY: 這有什么好難的！我告訴你什么叫難吧，我的日子才叫難呢！

　　LL: You know? You are different than Li Hua when you don't understand something. She's so sweet…and you're…

　　XY: 我怎么樣？你是不是覺得我太張揚(yáng)，不夠溫柔？我跟李華可不一樣。（語氣中帶有一絲嫉妒）

　　LL: 'A tough call' is a difficult decision to make, especially when there are so many choices or when something is not clear. For example, choosing the best meal on this menu is a tough call, because so many choices are good!

　　XY: 我知道了，tough call是說很難選擇。你是說菜單上很多東西好像都不錯，所以很難決定，it's a tough call. 你看，這還有這么多種啤酒，我真不知道該點(diǎn)哪種。It's a tough call too.

　　LL: Not for me! Excuse me, waiter, I'll have a Guinness please. Make that two Guinnesses, because my friend here is battling a tough call on what beer to order. So have you had to make any other tough calls in your life recently, Xiaoyan?

　　XY: 有啊。我正拿不定主意，不知道該回去讀書，還是再在金龍干一年，多賺點(diǎn)錢。It's really a tough call!

　　LL: Yeah, especially since you live in New York, where there are lots of opportunities, yet high costs of living. Ah, here come our beers!

　　XY: 來，讓我們?yōu)槟贻p和機(jī)會干杯。

　　*******

　　LL: The beers are good! How do you like your food, Xiaoyan? Is it better than Golden Dragon's food?

　　XY: Ha! That's not a tough call at all. 金龍的菜是最好的！

　　（Cut off due to blaring music音樂聲音放大）

　　LL: （Shouting over the music）Wow that's loud! I wish they'd tone it down!

　　XY: 什么？ Tone it down? 你是想說 turn it down 吧。

　　LL: Just a minute. （to the waiter） Hey, could you turn down the music, please? We're trying to have a conversation, and we can't hear each other's voices. Thanks!

　?。ㄒ魳仿曇糇冃。?/div>